Clouds of Secrecy

Clouds Of Secrecy.

Enabling the UK public to learn more of these past experiments has become even more important following the 1999 MOD statement, which refused to rule out carrying out further larger scale trials in the future.

DERA, the MOD agency then responsible for the CBW facility at Porton Down, stated:

"In the event of a military question arising which could only be answered by conducting open air trials in areas which may involve the general public, Ministers have made it clear that they cannot rule out the need to conduct larger scale trials in the future to try to ensure the protection of the UK from attacks by peoples of states using biological or chemical weapons".

During June 2006, in reply to a FOIA request, Dstl Porton Down confirmed to me that the 1999 statement was still official Government policy, but that they had not as yet felt the need to conduct large-scale open air tests.

Until the MOD rescind this policy, we will continue to live with the knowledge that, should the MOD deem it necessary, Porton Down will restart their public area spraying programme.

The groundbreaking UK television documentary - Clouds of Secrecy - exclusively reveals details of formerly classified UK Government Biological Warfare public area experiments. In particular the documentary reveals how, during 1963 and 1964, scientists from the UK Government's Chemical and Biological Warfare research facility at Porton Down used a de Havilland DH-104 Devon aircraft to repeatedly spray the county of Norfolk (the city of Norwich being the main target) with a hazardous material - Zinc Cadmium sulphide (ZnCds). A recently declassified MOD document reveals that, inexplicably, Porton scientists didn't subject the ZnCds for toxicity testing prior to spraying the material in populated areas. The programme also includes details of newly discovered Porton Down ZnCds spraying experiments, which were conducted in populated areas of Bedfordshire. The latter Bedfordshire experiments involved the use of Porton Down's clandestine spray vehicle - an especially adapted 1 Ton Morris Commercial Van. This enabled Porton scientists to secretly spray material without the local population becoming aware. The programme also draws  attention to recent allegations that a much higher level of oesophageal cancer exists in the Norfolk area, compared with the average levels reported in the rest of the UK. It also includes an interview with Professor Sir Peter Lachmann - co-author of a Ministry of Defence commissioned investigation of Porton Down's past ZnCds spraying programme.